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Archive for the ‘Eczema’ Category

Most parents find it hard to deal with any problems and sicknesses that are experienced by their kids. It is even harder to deal with conditions that have no cure such as eczema. The best thing that they can do in this case to help their kids is to look for ways to avoid further flare ups and to make sure that their children stay away from any factors that may trigger the condition. This is a recurrent skin problem that is likely to occur during infancy and early childhood. Most kids will outgrow the common symptoms, but some of them will carry these through adulthood. There are only limited numbers of adults who will develop the case for the first time. Aside from physical and emotional causes, the problem can also be caused by genetic factors.

This problem is an itch that when scratched, it will develop into rash. The solution to the problem is to make sure that the sufferer won’t scratch or at least, avoid scratching the affected parts. It comes in severe forms when the condition is developed during infancy. Children who have this problem may also develop other types of allergic diseases such as asthma and allergic rhinitis.

Diagnosing the Problem

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Laboratory testing cannot diagnose this kind of skin problem. These three factors must be present for the diagnosis to be made. First off, the sufferer must be atopic. They may come from a family that has similar allergic diseases. The patient must also experience pruritis or the medical term for itching. This is the only way to trigger the rash and if one doesn’t experience any kind of itching, then it is very likely that they don’t have this kind of skin problem. Due to itching, rashes will also appear. These may cause redness on the skin, blisters, bumps and the scaly look and feel.

Infants will likely develop the problem on various body parts that include their cheeks, back of scalp, chest, legs and arms. The diaper area is typically spared because they aren’t able to scratch the part. For adults and older kids, the problem typically develops behind the knees or in front of the elbows. To make sure that itching will be lessened, you have to determine what causes such. This may be due to infections, allergies, irritants and stress. When suffering or if one is prone to develop the problem, it is recommended that they stay away from using harsh chemicals on their skin, strong soaps or wearing wool fabrics and polyester. You must also avoid conditions wherein your body will be subjected to too much heat and sweating.

People who are suffering from this skin problem are prone to develop other skin infections that are caused by fungi, bacteria and other viruses. To help you deal with eczema, especially if your kids are suffering from this, you must get them looked at by the right professionals. Only the doctors can recommend the most suitable solution for the itchiness according to the severity of the problem.

Those who only know one or two facts about Eczema can be confused by misleading information. The best way to help those who are misled is to gently correct them with the truths you’re learning here.

About the Author
By Anders Eriksson, feel free to visit his top ranked GVO affiliate site: GVO

Have you ever wondered if what you know about Eczema is accurate? Consider the following paragraphs and compare what you know to the latest info on Eczema.

Eczema may often be associated with old people or those that have asthma but they are not the only ones affected by this very common skin problem. Even the younger ones are being targeted.

One of the most common forms of eczema In young people is the Seborrhoeic dermatitis. You can see this in people who frequently have dry skin on the areas with hair like the scalp and the eyebrows. It is also found in unlikely areas like the backs of the elbows or even in some areas of the skin. Usually there will be dandruff and scaling because of the dry skin. Usually, this kind of dermatitis is actually pretty harmless although many people actually have them in various degrees. It is only dangerous when it is contracted by the very young such as an infant. Seborrhoeic dermatitis can lead to cradle cap in infants.

One mistake that people with this condition commit is to scratch the surface and get rid of the scaling or the dandruff. This is not a good idea. You see the more you scratch the surface and remove the scaling and the dry skin, the more irritated the skin becomes. Irritation can be a problem because it only exacerbates the condition. Also, when you scratch and peel off the dry skin, bacteria from your nails can be transferred into the affected area, thus infecting the skin irritation further.

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Having Seborrhoeic dermatitis isn’t really something that people lose sleep over. As mentioned before, it is harmless unless the condition turns into something worst because of infection. Usually, these forms are treated with moisturizers and oil to lessen the disadvantages. Those who have dandruff turn to commercial products to solve their problems.

But not all types of eczema are harmless. There are some that require medication. One example perhaps is the atopic eczema, which is a very common allergic reaction; the discoid eczema, which often lead to dry rash and lesions; and the venous eczema, which often results to scaling, redness and darkening of the skin because of the scars.

For these forms of eczema, more aggressive treatment is usually used. It is important though that you consult with doctors before you take any medications. Corticosteroids are often used to treat eczema and while this is a pretty powerful drug, it also has some side effects. One of the side effects is the thinning of the skin. There is also a danger of the body getting used to the drug. Because of some recent studies, doctors now prescribe topical medicines instead of the oral ones. This is because topical medicines are found to have no effect on the skin.

Still even with this, some are reluctant to actually take the drugs. Others want more natural forms of treatment because they believe that problems like this are not really happening because of a medical condition but because of some irritants, for instance, detergents or shampoo. The best treatment for eczema is still education and prevention.

Knowing enough about Eczema to make solid, informed choices cuts down on the fear factor. If you apply what you’ve just learned about Eczema, you should have nothing to worry about.

About the Author
By Anders Eriksson, proud owner of this top ranked web hosting reseller site: GVO

Eczema cannot be cured, but there are ways that can be done to avoid flare ups and help treat the itchiness. If you are clueless about what to do, you have to seek the help of the right health professionals to help you deal with the condition.

Frequent flares can be handled through various means. These include the use of steroid creams or other nonsteroidal medicines. Proper moisturizers must be regularly applied on your kid’s skin twice or thrice a day to avoid excessive dryness of the skin. During this phase, you must only use products that have no or little chemicals on your child’s skin. You should also be aware of the triggering factors that may contribute to the worsening of the condition.

During bedtime, you can give your child antihistamine to help control the itching so that they can get enough rest at night. You must not allow them to wear clothes that are made from wool and other materials that may cause excessive body heat and sweating. When the flares seem out of hand, you can also opt to use wet or wet to dry dressings. You cannot help your kids from scratching the affected areas because the itchiness can get too much to bear. You must make sure that their fingernails are always clean and short so that they won’t cause any damage on their skin no matter how itchy it is.

Other Means

It seems like new information is discovered about something every day. And the topic of Eczema is no exception. Keep reading to get more fresh news about Eczema.

When the basic solutions don’t work, you must still not give up and try to come up with other plans. There are really certain cases when the condition gets out of hand and hard to control. At these instances, you have to seek help from pediatric dermatologists because they may know newer kinds of solutions and treatments to help you deal with this. With the help of the right health professional, you will also be sure if your child is already suffering from other kinds of skin infection.

There are some therapies that can be applied depending on the skin condition of your child. This includes using steroid creams that may start frequently, every other day until it is no longer needed. This can also be applied at certain parts of the body that are not responding to other treatments. It is also possible for your doctor to recommend UV light phototherapy treatment, the use of coal tar lotions and shampoos and the use of cyclosporine to suppress the body’s immune system.

As a parent, you have to constantly research about the latest findings on this kind of skin problem. You must frequent various health resources that can be found online to get a good dose of information about how to deal with this. You must also ask your doctor about what should be done about this and you can also try asking around, especially those parents who are also dealing with this.

The gravity of one’s eczema may also be caused by the weather. You have to be prepared and know how to help your child during the winter season and during the hot months of summer.

About the Author
By Anders Eriksson, proud owner of this top ranked web hosting reseller site: GVO

Can eczema be prevented?
If not, what are the ways to prevent the symptoms?

Eczema, as we know it, is a general term for the many types of skin inflammation that is also known as dermatitis. The most common form of eczema, atopic dermatitis, is sometimes called atopic eczema.

With its long history, doctors have not yet found a specific cure for the disease. What is available now are various therapies designed to put the illness under control and manage the debilitating symptoms (itchiness, skin rashes, lesions, painful open sores) it inflicts on its victims.

Genetics and some

From their findings, doctors also believe eczema is a genetic defect that results in the abnormality of the barrier function of the skin. In atopic dermatitis, the term ?atopic? is generally used to refer to diseases with tendencies to trigger allergic conditions (asthma, hay fever).

From experience, eczema tends to affect infants and young children. Some people would also carry with them the disease whose symptoms would keep recurring in their lives as adults.

Flare-up triggers

There are many things that can trigger a flare-up of the symptoms of the disease. These include environmental irritants, allergens from all over, and substances that are used in the manufacture of soaps and perfumes and others we handle.

Some triggering factors can be as flimsy as a sudden change of temperature, sweating, food allergies, and lifestyle stress in general.

Preventive measures

While there is no cure for eczema, there are many ways to sidestep and avoid the triggering factors. Sometimes, the methods are also to dampen the severity of these symptoms. Prevention is more on deterring the symptoms of the disease.

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Removing the cause of the allergic reaction (or the trigger of this reaction) is the easiest and most effective preventive measure. They can be as simple as changing your laundry detergent.

Sometimes it can be as difficult as changing jobs (there is a type of the disease termed occupational eczema) or moving to a new place to find the right climate for your body.

Some preventive methods

Avoid having dry skin by taking warm (not hot) showers (not baths). Use mild soaps and body cleansers. After careful drying, apply moisturizing skin lotions all over, avoiding those with fragrances or other irritating ingredients.

Refrain from wearing tight-fitting, rough, or scratchy clothing. For most people, cotton is less irritating than synthetic fibers or wool.

Heavy activities

Avoid overly strenuous activities that can make you hot and sweaty or places with abrupt changes in temperatures and humidity. Sweating irritates the rash if you have flare-ups.

If you don’t have symptoms, practice good skin hygiene. Wear protective gloves for activities that require submersion of your hands in water for long periods.

Scratching

Avoid scratching the rash, or cover the area with a dressing. If the allergen (those that cause allergic reactions) cannot be removed (or worse, identified), try to minimize the allergic inflammatory response.

Apply some non-prescription steroid creams together with anti-itching lotions. Apply the cream as often as possible until the rash disappears. You can also use cold compresses to dampen the itch.

Eczema as a disease may not be preventable, but what can be prevented are the debilitating symptoms that attack its victims. It pays to know them all.

Hopefully the sections above have contributed to your understanding of Eczema. Share your new understanding about Eczema with others. They’ll thank you for it.

About the Author
By Anders Eriksson, proud owner of this top ranked web hosting reseller site: GVO

The following paragraphs summarize the work of Eczema experts who are completely familiar with all the aspects of Eczema. Heed their advice to avoid any Eczema surprises.

Among the many known and probable causes of eczema, many numbers of its sufferers acquire such through food allergies. The condition is also referred to as atopic dermatitis. This is a kind of skin rash with prominent symptoms such as redness, itchiness and scaly look and feel of the skin. Severe types may develop blisters with reddish and swollen areas due to scratching. This can be seen at various body parts including the cheeks, elbows and knees.

The problem can be experienced by both adults and children, but this is likely to develop during infancy and by the time the child reaches the age of five. It is said that about 10 to 20 percent of all kids will likely develop this kind of skin problem. Most children that are suffering from this will completely outgrow the symptoms or see significant improvements with these as they grow older. There are only about 10 percent of adults who will get this condition for the first time. There are many allergic conditions that may trigger this reaction. These include respiratory allergies, allergic rhinitis and asthma. This also has a genetic component and children will develop it if their families have a history of hay fever, asthma and other types of allergic disorders.

Triggering Factors

Foods allergens are known to worsen the flare ups caused by this kind of skin problem. To help eliminate the symptoms, you have to completely stay away from any food allergens. The usual foods that can trigger such effect include milk, wheat, soy, eggs and peanuts. It is vital that patients who have recently developed such problem undergo food allergy screening.

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Aside from food allergens, this skin problem can also be caused by experiencing too much stress. This may also be due to airborne allergens such as pollen and dust. This may also be due to too much dryness of the skin or wearing itchy clothing.

It is very essential that you find out what causes or what triggers this condition. The only way for you to avoid flare ups is by staying away from what causes such. You have to keep your skin moisturized to reduce the swollenness and you must avoid any irritants, may it be due to emotional factors, physical or allergenic causes.

Seek Help

To make sure that the problem won’t get any worse, it is recommended that you seek the help of health professionals while the flare ups are still controllable. They need to test your skin and help you find out the causes of the problem. For skin dryness, they can give you lotions that are apt for this or medicated moisturizers. This can also be treated through the use of wet dressings. There are also known drugs that can help control the inflammation such as various brands of topical corticosteroids. For severe cases, you may also be given oral steroids that must only be taken for a short time period.

There is still no cure to eczema, so the best way to handle the condition is by avoiding the triggering factors that can worsen the symptoms.

About the Author
By Anders Eriksson, feel free to visit his top ranked GVO affiliate site: GVO

Eczema may seem such a foreign sounding word but it is actually characterized by one simple thing: dryness. Eczema is a common skin problem characterized by the formation of scaling on the skin, dryness, rashes and blistering. People who had it really bad can even experience extreme redness and swelling on the areas affected.

Although some forms of eczema require medication: corticosteroids to be exact, some forms are harmless and do not really need medications. An example of this is what we usually call the Seborrhoeic dermatitis. Ordinarily, this form of eczema features dryness of the scalp, the eyebrow area and even the face itself. It all depends on the extent of the problem.

Remember that eczema can be exacerbated and infected and that one case can easily infect another person. Thus, even if it is not being prescribed by the doctor, the meds are taken by people so as to cure the problem and not spread the infection.

But this is easier said than done. In reality, one cannot drink any medicine without the prescription from the doctor. You won’t even be able to buy the medicine if you do not have the prescription. This is especially true with certain types of eczema, which are being treated by corticosteroids. These medicines can have serious side effects, one of which is the thinning of the skin. And the drug would not even cure the skin problem, just help control it and at the very least manage the outward effects.

Is everything making sense so far? If not, I’m sure that with just a little more reading, all the facts will fall into place.

Thus, most health experts believe that when it comes to this kind of problems, prevention is still the best course of action. Some also turn to the natural way of controlling this problem without resorting to taking medicines. Because eczema is usually caused by either an allergic reaction or a irritant, avoiding having the problem in the first place is pretty easy. For one, just knowing what you are allergic on can already be a start in preventing this problem from taking root.

Irritants are however harder to control because these can be anything you encounter in your daily life. Usually, irritants are chemicals that your skin reacts to like strong soaps and detergents, paints, shampoo. If you notice that your skin gets rashes when you use a particular item, refrain from using that immediately. Don’t let your irritation to become eczema.

Another technique to combating eczema is the use of moisturizer. Eczema involves dry skin and one way to prevent the dryness of the skin is to use moisturizer. But be careful on this score because just because moisturizer lessens dryness, it does not mean that it can stop eczema from happening. Remember that moisturizers are also chemicals that you put on your skin. If these chemicals are too harsh on your skin, chances are you will develop rashes.

Actually, until now, there is no standard skin product for people with eczema. These people are ultra sensitive that some products, even if it is hypoallergenic, still can’t be used by people with eczema problems.

About the Author
By Anders Eriksson, feel free to visit his top ranked GVO affiliate site: GVO

The following paragraphs summarize the work of Eczema experts who are completely familiar with all the aspects of Eczema. Heed their advice to avoid any Eczema surprises.

There is another distinct grouping named for another type of eczema known these days ? occupational dermatitis. In a nutshell, it is any type of eczema triggered by a person’s workplace.

People who develop eczema on the job have their own unique causes. For instance, chefs often have occupational dermatitis on the hands.

Reason? Chefs usually handles garlic, and after some years developed allergic contact dermatitis caused by an allergy to a compound found in garlic.

Statistics

Today, there are about 5% of men and 10% of women who develop hand eczema caused by their workforce exposure. This happens when something that touches the skin causes irritation (called irritant contact dermatitis) or a straight allergic reaction (called allergic contact dermatitis).

The symptoms and signs of most occupational dermatitis usually grow out on the forearms and face, too.

Visible signs

The symptoms of occupational dermatitis often include dry, chapped skin for mild cases. For more severe cases, the skin is raw and irritated-looking, and with scaly top skin.

There is itching or burning sensation on the affected skin areas. If the condition lasts longer, there will be thickening of the affected skin.

Causes

There are many causes that trigger occupational dermatitis. Many skin specialists say that it’s not just one, but a combination of these causes that sometimes does the trick.

I trust that what you’ve read so far has been informative. The following section should go a long way toward clearing up any uncertainty that may remain.

The top-listed one includes that repeated exposure to substances over time can irritate the skin, and that long-term exposure to a substance over time transforms that substance into an allergen.

The other causes are airborne particles that get embedded in clothes and against the skin (under the collar, along the waistband).

Harsh chemicals touching the hands or saturating the clothes cause eczema. Other workers get them from chemicals that become hazardous after being exposed to the sun. (These are most common in roof and agricultural workers.)

Risk factors

Like any other risks, people in certain occupations have greater risks in developing various forms of eczema than others. 5 occupations (housekeeper, brick layer, metal workers, hairdressers and health-care workers) were found to comprise 60% of reported cases.

Other occupations with higher-than-average risks include janitors and maids, florist, bakers, caterers, bartenders, cooks and agricultural workers.

Other factors include age (it decreases with age), gender (women are more prone), industry (agriculture and manufacturing are riskier), atopic conditions (people with allergic histories are susceptible), and environment (low humidity can damage the skin’s protection).

Treatments

Like always, the sooner occupational dermatitis is diagnosed (and treated), the better. Long-term cases can be difficult to treat.

Treatment includes avoidance of causing agents (substances that triggers the irritation or allergy). ?Avoidance? includes using a barrier cream, wearing gloves, or doing the job differently. Changes have to be done in homes, too (changing of soaps and detergents, etc).

Treatment also includes applying emollients and moisturizers regularly when depleted and all throughout the day. This might also include the use of topical (or oral) anti-itch antihistamines to control the irritation (itching).

Doctors sometimes use phototherapy treatments to control some patient’s overactive immune response. Infections are treated with the necessary antibiotics.

All in all, as in the treatment of the other eczema types, dermatologists would recommend a thorough skin care program to help prevent the conditions triggered by a person’s job from getting worse.

Sometimes it’s tough to sort out all the details related to this subject, but I’m positive you’ll have no trouble making sense of the information presented above.

About the Author
By Anders Eriksson, proud owner of this top ranked web hosting reseller site: GVO

Imagine the next time you join a discussion about Eczema. When you start sharing the fascinating Eczema facts below, your friends will be absolutely amazed.

Eczema is the generic term used to name a group of medical conditions that show the skin being inflamed or irritated. The most common of this group is atopic dermatitis or atopic eczema.

Atopic is used to refer to a group of diseases that comes with a tendency to develop other allergic conditions, such as asthma and hay fever. This condition is often inherited.

Prevalence

Based on the latest findings, atopic eczema is increasing and presently afflicts around 9 to 30% of the population in the U.S. The disease is common in young children and infants.

Most infants, thankfully, outgrow the illness around their second birthday. However, there are some people who carry the symptoms of eczema all throughout their lives, although they usually are on a recurring basis. Usually, these symptoms can also be controlled.

Symptoms

Both itchiness and rashes occur on the skin. Sometimes, the itch starts before the rashes appear. The rashes are usually on the face, hands, knees, or feet. On severe cases, the rashes (and itch) affect many other areas.

The affected skin usually becomes extremely dry, thickened and scaly. With fair-skinned victims, these areas start with being reddish and turning into brown later. On darker-skinned people, the areas will either become lighter or darker.

The rashes on infants sometimes produce oozing and crusting conditions on the afflicted areas. Usually, they occur on the face and scalp, but they can appear anywhere.

In infants, the itchy rash can produce an oozing, crusting condition that occurs mainly on the face and scalp, but patches may appear anywhere.

Causes

There is no known cause discovered yet on eczema. Scientists, however, have found links in the disease and the overactive response of the body’s immune system to unknown triggers. Eczema is found to be common in families with histories on allergy and asthma.

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Contact with coarse materials can make the skin itchy. Too hot or too cold exposures can also trigger itch as well as exposures to certain soaps or detergents.

Animal fur and stress sometimes can trigger these ?flare-ups? (sudden skin rashes). Luckily, the condition is not contagious and cannot be spread from one person to another.

Diagnosis

They can be diagnosed by any doctor, but mostly by pediatricians, allergists, and dermatologists. Since eczema victims also suffer from allergies, doctors usually perform allergy tests to pinpoint possible trigger-irritants.

Children with eczema are usually tested for allergies.

Treatments

Before prescribing treatments, doctors usually determine the type of eczema, the severity, the patient’s medical history and other relative factors.

The medication (and other therapies) is usually for itch control, inflammation reduction, loosening and removal of scaly lesions, and to clear the infection.

Effectiveness

Research shows that the most effective treatment for eczema, regardless of the type, is a combination of therapies to treat the skin and making drastic lifestyle changes of the victim.

This combined effort increases the effectiveness of the medication. The medication is unique to the patient because it includes the type of eczema, past treatments, and the patient’s preferences.

Thankfully, there are many effective therapies available today to treat the many types of eczema. With care, most eczema can be managed.

Now you can be a confident expert on Eczema. OK, maybe not an expert. But you should have something to bring to the table next time you join a discussion on Eczema.

About the Author
By Anders Eriksson, proud owner of this top ranked web hosting reseller site: GVO

Imagine the next time you join a discussion about Eczema. When you start sharing the fascinating Eczema facts below, your friends will be absolutely amazed.

Among the many major types of eczema, atopic dermatitis (sometimes called infantile eczema) is the most common. Most people develop atopic dermatitis before the age of five. This refers to a number of conditions where the skin is red and irritated.

?Atopic? means conditions where someone is sensitive to allergens like pollen, molds, dust, animal dander (fur and feathers), and some food. ?Dermatitis? is the inflammation of the skin.

Victims

65% of the population develops atopic dermatitis during the first year of their lives, up to 90% until the age of 5. While it usually ends at the second year, around 50% suffers from it into adulthood as hand eczema.

Luckily, this kind of eczema is not contagious and there is no worry catching it from someone or giving it to anyone. It, however, runs in families where members have eczema, asthma or hay fever.

Symptoms

Red, itchy patches on the skin occur mostly in hands and feet. Other common areas are the elbow bends, backs of knees, ankles, wrists, necks and upper chests. But they can also happen anywhere in the body, including the face and around the eyes.

In infants, these patches develop on the scalp and face, especially on the cheeks.

Skins sometime swell, crack and develop scale. Without treatment, the skin protects itself from damage caused by scratching by developing a thick crust over the affected area.

Causes

Medical experts have not pinpointed the exact cause or causes of atopic dermatitis. There had been many false leads before.

However, they are one in the belief that the cause is a combination of complex interaction of many factors ? our genes, where we live, chemical and organic pollutants, immune system malfunction, and a breakdown of the outermost skin layer.

Risk factors

Today, many risk factors related to atopic dermatitis eczema had already been isolated. Foremost is family history. If one or more members of your family had atopic conditions (dermatitis, asthma, hay fever), you have a good chance of developing the same.

Pollution-prone places also increase the risk of the illness. Females are slightly prone to the disease than males. It also tends to be more common in higher social classes and in families that are smaller in size.

Diagnosis

Doctors usually look for a rash, and ask for the medical history of the patient and those of close relatives. The search is the presence of a history of atopic dermatitis, asthma or hay fever from everyone.

To learn if the patient has allergic contact dermatitis (another common eczema type), doctors conduct patch testing. This is a medical process for finding allergies.

Treatments

Atopic dermatitis eczema cannot be cured. However, with proper treatment, most cases can be managed. The treatments are for hydrating the skin, reduce inflammation, decrease the risk of infection, and ease down the itchy feeling.

Doctors use emollients to relieve dry skin, compresses (cold) to relieve the itch, corticosteroids for inflammation reduction, and sometimes sedative antihistamines to help the patient sleep.

Today, doctors use a combination of therapies to treat skin discomfort and condition as well as having the patient makes lifestyle changes that help alleviate the illness. (Some of the triggers of common eczema such as atopic dermatitis are sometimes job-related.)
Is Ointment Good For Your Eczema?

Eczema, in everyday language, is a group of medical conditions that makes the skin irritated and inflamed. The most common eczema is called atopic dermatitis or atopic eczema. Today, most doctors treat these conditions with ointment preparations.

If you base what you do on inaccurate information, you might be unpleasantly surprised by the consequences. Make sure you get the whole Eczema story from informed sources.

Atopic basically refers to a group of diseases with an inherited tendency to develop other allergic condition like asthma or hay fever. Dermatitis generally refers to skin irritations.

This disease is common in young children and infants, but usually disappears after about the baby’s second year. Some people, however, bring it with them till adulthood and suffer throughout their lives.

Treatments

At present, there is no cure yet found for atopic eczema, and the other types. The treatments are basically for relief and prevention of itch. (Scratching can lead to infection.)

Since the skin becomes dry and itchy, lotions and creams are applied to keep the skin moist. These are usually applied when the skin is damp (after bathing) to retain moisture. Itching is also partially eased with cold compresses.

Doctors usually prescribe ointments over other treatments like creams, liquids, pastes, shake lotion, and powder. The following are the treatments and how they act on your skin.

Liquids

This would include baths, wet dressings, paints, and gels that liquefy on contact with your skin. Tar baths for eczema is also a liquid treatment.

Oil is also a liquid treatment and is used in combination with other ingredients to form oil-in-water and water-in-oil agents. Liquid treatments dry up are prescribed for sweaty and oozing skin and to generally reduce inflammation.

Creams

Creams are used primarily as a soothing moisturizer. It consists of two agents ? oil and water ? in a combination to form an emulsion of 50% water and 50% oil.

This emulsified form is helpful because it penetrates the stratum corneum, the outer layer of the skin that is hard and scaly.

Ointments

Ointments are solutions consisting of 80% oil and 20% water. Generally, this combination makes for a better barrier against loss of skin moisture than creams and lotions.

In short, ointments are better moisturizers than any preparation. They form a protective layer on the skin and are strong moisturizers. (It locks in moisture better because it contains more oil.)

Paste

This preparation contains three agents ? oil, water, and powder. Technically, a paste is an ointment where powder is suspended.

Pastes are less greasy, though. They can be an effective carrier for dermatological medications. It soothes inflamed and weeping (oozing liquid) skin.

Powder

It is a single agent and is usually added to others to make shake lotions and pastes. For eczema, the common powdered medication is zinc oxide.

They are used to decrease skin-to-skin friction, and promote drying of sweaty and oozing skin lesions. However, they should not be applied to skin creases where they dry out and form clumps that can rub and irritate the skin.

Shake lotion

These lotions are made with powder and liquid. To use, they must be shaken first to disperse the powder evenly within the liquid. Powdered ingredients tend to settle down inside shake lotion bottles.

These are used to treat lesions wet or oozing skin lesions. All in all, each of these various forms of eczema treatment has specific uses, depending on the conditions of your skin lesions.

About the Author
By Anders Eriksson, proud owner of this top ranked web hosting reseller site: GVO

Generically speaking, eczema is the catch-all term for a number of skin conditions that commonly causes the skin to become inflamed or irritated. Venous eczema, also known as stasis dermatitis, is one type of eczema that usually afflicts older people.

This common eczema occurs when a person’s circulation becomes sluggish. Starting in the lower legs, it is caused by poor blood flow causing fluids to build up, and the legs to become swollen.

After some time, the fluid buildup affects the skin and soon develops a rash that is itchy, and produces painful sores over a thinning and discolored skin. The treatment is usually a two-pronged approach ? treating the dermatitis and the circulation problem as well.

Symptoms

Stasis dermatitis sometimes begins so slowly it is hardly noticed by the patient at all. Sometimes, it can be so rapid it seems to have developed into a full-blown case overnight.

The first visible signs would be the swelling of one or both legs. The swollen part includes the foot and extends to just beneath the knee.

The other symptoms include leg pains, thinning and inflamed skin, severe itching, and the growth of open sores that can also be painful.

Soon, there are patches of skin that become dry and scaly, formation of skin crusting that darkens and thickens with repeated scratching and rubbing. Violet-colored discolorations soon appear on the top of the feet and in the lower legs.

Victims

Because it is mainly triggered by poor circulation, stasis dermatitis usually develops in people who are middle-aged or older. In the U.S. there are about 15 to 20 million people over 50 years old who have stasis dermatitis.

As can be expected, the disease rarely happens to people below 40 years old. However, there are slightly more females than males who suffer the condition.

You may not consider everything you just read to be crucial information about Eczema. But don’t be surprised if you find yourself recalling and using this very information in the next few days.

Causes

Advancing age is the primary cause of poor circulation. In turn, poor circulation leads to the development of stasis dermatitis or venous eczema.

Sometimes, a deep vein thrombosis, surgery, or an injury that damages the lower leg veins can trigger stasis dermatitis.

Risk factors

There is a long list of risk factors that can trigger the illness aside from the advancing age. They include varicose veins, blood clot (including deep vein thrombosis), high blood pressure, sedentary lifestyle and obesity.

They would include, too, heart conditions such as congestive heart failure and kidney failure.

Treatment

Some of the prescribed treatments are first aids to alleviate the discomfort of the illness while the rest are specific treatments.

The first one is elevating the legs above the heart when sleeping and sitting. This is to improve the leg’s circulation and to decrease the swelling.

The specific treatment is the one for treating congestive heart failure. This calls for the taking of low-dose diuretics for the heart and high blood pressure.

Other treatment includes applying low-dose topical steroids (inflammation reduction) and a topical antibiotic (for possible skin infections). Scratching is prohibited and the patient is directed to apply petroleum jelly to moisturize the legs.

As it stands, venous eczema (stasis dermatitis) is a long-term condition that needs an equally long-term care. This care will continue to be done even when the skin had cleared up.

About the Author
By Anders Eriksson, feel free to visit his top ranked GVO affiliate site: GVO